


The Matchmaker's Final Match

by Cascalence



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Dean Winchester, Alpha Gabriel, Baker Gabriel (Supernatural), John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Matchmaker Sam Winchester, Mpreg, Omega Castiel (Supernatural), Omega Sam Winchester, Panic Attacks, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Underage, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Traumatized Sam Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:22:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cascalence/pseuds/Cascalence
Summary: This is for all my readers, but especially those that this is gifted to; anna, reals (that's your nickname now, deal with it), Nama, Rox, and Artsy.Also, reals?  Tell Kelly this is a gift to her, too, and once she's got an account, I'll happily edit the fic and add her onto the gifted list for this.LOVE YOU GAIS <3
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Comments: 8
Kudos: 96





	The Matchmaker's Final Match

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anna_o_0](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anna_o_0/gifts), [thisisreallyME](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisreallyME/gifts), [Nama28](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nama28/gifts), [Roxie5129](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roxie5129/gifts), [ArtsyisAwesome](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=ArtsyisAwesome).



> This is for all my readers, but especially those that this is gifted to; anna, reals (that's your nickname now, deal with it), Nama, Rox, and Artsy.
> 
> Also, reals? Tell Kelly this is a gift to her, too, and once she's got an account, I'll happily edit the fic and add her onto the gifted list for this.
> 
> LOVE YOU GAIS <3

Sam Winchester was a rarity among omegas.

Not because of his tall, alpha-like build, though that did play a factor in furthering his uniqueness.

No, Sam was special, was rare, because of his olfactory acuity. His ability to pick up, distinguish, and determine scents was in the top .07% in the world.

When he had presented as omega in his late teens, it only furthered just how special he was. While omegas typically had strong senses, they usually didn't compare when it came to True Alphas. But, as his older brother Dean was a True Alpha, and Sam easily could pick things up far better than he could, he'd wound up being tested for his acuity with smell.

When he'd received the results, he'd been stunned to see the number on the sheet.

All the same, it took into his college years, working on his general education core with an undecided major, before he finally decided on the career path he wanted.

The decision came quite by accident. He'd never even thought about it, in all the time he'd spent matching up friends and strangers around him, by scent alone.

See, while personalities could still clash, an individual's scent played a heavy factor in predicting a good match, all the same. If nothing else, it predicted a strong biological compatibility.

Nearly every couple he set up worked out, and he had very few in the way of failings. This was likely what prompted a friend to make an off-handed joke that he should set people up in a professional capacity.

And so it was that come the next semester, his major had become Presentational Chemistry with a minor in Biological Scents Determination.

Matchmakers were far from common, and it was typically a field that True Alphas dominated, especially the female amongst that given secondary gender. However, Sam joined an international agency, sailing up through the ranks, until he had enough credibility and prestige (as well as a startup fund) to start his own agency. ...He didn't like the exorbitant fees that his former company charged people, and he wanted to be his own boss.

So, he opened Scents and Sensibility, working three days a week and bringing in enough money to keep up overhead and live decently.

The way matchmaking worked was different for Sam than it was for a True Alpha. Overall, there wasn't a terrible difference, really; an individual signed up, filled out a personality questionnaire, rubbed the scent gland in their wrist against a specially formulated scent card, and paid the fee.

Where it differed for Sam from others in his field, was that he had to take suppressants that were strong enough to not only block his heat, but pretty much obliterate his scent in the process.

He knew what that meant. It meant he'd likely never find a mate. But he was doing so much good, making so many people happy...he decided to content himself with it. Dean often argued with him over it, told him that he should just take the time to find someone and then pick his work back up, because if he was mated then he wouldn't have to block out his own scent to focus on that of his clients. But Sam refused ultimately refused, because finding someone he loved enough to mate could take years.

There was an opposite side of this coin that eventually came up. See, he needed to block out his scent to help himself focus on the scents of his clients. But the truth of the matter was, a heat would spike the strength of his sense of smell. Given how sensitive his olfactory sense was, however, he never had to use it.

Until Castiel Shurley.

Castiel was similar to Sam in a few respects; omega with an alpha build, studious and well-read, even if a bit quirky. Sam became friends with his fellow omega over the months he worked to attempt to find him his potential mate.

Castiel was exceedingly patient over their meetings, that eventually became actual hanging out. Their places of business were near to one another, and they often wound up catching lunch at a mutually-loved nearby cafe.

When the fifth month came, following Castiel's initial appointment, Sam decided he was dedicating himself to finding his friend happiness.

And so, he dropped his suppressants and shut down his office for the next three weeks.

It took a week for the suppressants to work out of his system, and immediately on the eighth day, he woke in a burning fever sweat, curled around his aching core.

He'd left Castiel's scent card on the tall dresser on the opposite side of the room, but even from his position on the bed, he could smell it, and...he knew. He suddenly knew the one scent that would complement perfectly.

With a hysterical, if pained, laugh, he grabbed his phone and first texted his brother. "Dress for company. Nicely, Dean. No flannel, dammit."

And then he texted Cas his brother's address, telling him to look presentable.

Following that, his phone was ignored as he worked on riding out his heat and keeping hydrated and nourished.

When he finally checked his messages after the week-long torture subsided, he smiled warmly.

Cas and Dean had hit it off spectacularly, apparently. They were both shocked at Sam's vagueness at first. Then they were trying to get ahold of him to figure out what they were supposed to be doing and when he was going to show up to tell them what was going on. Then they'd figured it out, when Cas had divulged that he'd originally been one of Sam's clients. The following texts were from the next day, expressing worry at his lack of communication. But when Dean and Cas had found out that Sam had shut down his business until the end of the following week, Dean had taken over the texting.

"Fuck, did you go off suppressants?

You did, didn't you?

Dammit, Sammy, are you okay? Answer me, you haven't had one in years!

You better be okay.

Cas is awesome.

Fuck, Sammy, I'll never question you again.

Sammy? It's been four days. Answer me?

So I'm pretty sure you were too out of it, but I came by. I did the dishes and some laundry for ya, little brother. I...I owe you, and I'm never going to be able to repay, ya know?

Text me when you come out of it."

Sam blinked. Oh, so Sam hadn't been cleaning in his painful fugue heat state. That had been Dean. "I'm alive and well. Getting back on my suppressants tomorrow. Real glad you guys work."

Cas and Dean were mated barely three months later. During the planning, Sam met Cas' older brother, Gabriel.

Gabriel was a riot.

He showed up to their first planning meeting with penis-lollipops (two with knots, two without, handing the ones with knots to Cas and Sam, and one without to Dean). Cas had only given a small shake of his head and proceeded to actually suck on the lollipop. Dean had spluttered, red-faced for one reason when his had been shoved into his hands. And then red-faced for an entirely different reason when he saw Cas' lips around his.

Sam had choked out a maniacal laugh, but had to excuse himself from that first meeting with the planner. Dean had done his best to tamp down the scent of arousal at Cas' lips around a phallic object, but even in minute doses, Sam could still pick up on it, and that was just...no. He could not deal with smelling his brother's hormones.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Gabriel that was asked to be Cas' best man, even though the other omega had made a point to include his brother in on the planning for the mating. No, Cas asked Sam to be his best man. ...And Dean asked the same of him. Sam's eyes had darted back and forth between them.

"Well...I guess that saves on speeches, huh?" he spoke, accepting.

The task of the bachelor parties, Sam decided to delegate to Gabriel, telling him that he wasn't any good at that sort of thing. The alpha had accepted with a broad smirk and a, "This is going to be epic," while rubbing his hands together.

For all the short amount of time they'd had before the mating, it all went down beautifully, without a single hitch.

Half a year later, the week before Christmas, Sam's brother-in-law's brother (what did that make them to each other exactly?) walked into his office.

"Yo Sammich! How's tricks?" he greeted.

Sam blinked, then glanced down subtly at his appointment schedule. Hunh, how did he not notice that Gabriel had set up a consultation appointment?

"Uh," he began, eyes darting back up. "Pretty good, I guess. I uh...I take it Kali didn't work out?" he spoke as Gabriel plopped into one of the sofa chairs he had setting in front of his desk for clients.

"Sure didn't...but you knew she wouldn't," Gabriel said idly.

It was a hard thing, but Sam managed not to duck his head in a sheepish show of submission. Instead, he merely gave a short nod, along with an, "I'm sorry for not saying anything."

Gabriel tilted his head a bit, the action carrying the same curious scrutiny his eyes held. "Was it that our scents weren't uh...meshing for your nose? Or did you smell...that whole mess?"

Sam's head did duck this time, before he could stop himself. He winced then, grimacing as his eyes darted to a picture of his brother and Cas on his desk.

"Damn. Well, I can't blame you for not wanting to out her in the middle of Cassie's mating ceremony, but uh...you coulda had him pass on the message or something, ya know," Gabriel spoke. There was bitterness in his tone, and while it wasn't heavy in his scent, it still made Sam's nose wrinkle.

"Would you really have believed me? You don't know me, Gabe. We met three times before then, for the planning," Sam began, meeting Gabriel's eyes. "And if she'd decided to deny it, decided to accuse me of trying to destroy what you had, who would you have believed? On top of that, if she had decided to make the accusations that I was some sort of home-wrecking omega, it could've destroyed everything I've built. ...I am sorry, I really and truly am, but I couldn't risk everything when there was a chance it'd have been fruitless anyway," he explained.

Gabriel frowned, eyes darting to the built-in bookcase to Sam's left. Finally, he shrugged. "I can't say I would've believed you, can't be sure in retrospect. I thought she was it, was getting ready to take the big leap with her...so I might not've. But...it was the way you reacted when I introduced you two at the ceremony that threw up the red flags in the first place, so...I don't know. Ultimately, I reckon I owe you for that," he said.

Sam blinked. "Wh...how did I...?"

"Your nose wrinkled," Gabriel spoke, chuckling a bit, his eyes seeming to light up at the memory. "To be honest? I didn't think much of it at the moment, except how damned cute it looked. But I kept thinking about that over the next couple of days, wondering why, when there'd been nothing but happy scents during the whole affair. I realized it was Kali, and then wondered if it was her scent meshing with mine...or something else. I got my answer a week after that, when she tried to convince me she was carrying my pup," he said. His scent curdled with bitterness at that, that had Sam's stomach flipping.

He managed not to show it on his face, the way that twist to Gabriel's scent made him ill. "How did you know it wasn't yours?" he ventured instead.

"I'm sterile."

Sam halted, tilting his head, watching Gabriel. "...My senses are strong enough, Gabriel, that I can detect many things. ...I knew Kali was with pup. I knew it wasn't yours. But you should know, you're not sterile. You're...it's difficult to explain, but fertility has a scent, too. It's obviously far stronger for omegas that it is for betas or alphas...but you're a True Alpha, so the scent is slightly more potent on you than it would be on a typical alpha. And yes, it is...greatly diminished, almost not there at all, but you're not sterile."

Gabriel was staring at Sam in open shock for a long couple of moments. "...Yeah, okay, well, it's not likely anyway. According to the medical tests I had, they said I'd have to find my true mate, if I have one, in order for any potential there to be fulfilled, and I knew Kali wasn't that," he said with a shrug, looking discomforted for a moment. It eased and he chuckled. "That nose of yours really is special, huh? ...Ya know, Cassie told me you had to go off suppressants, torture yourself, basically, to put him and Dean together. But you had both their scents already. So why...?"

"Because of how close Dean was to me," Sam answered with a wry smile. "It probably doesn't make sense, but because it was essentially meshing Cas' scent with a familial scent, it just wouldn't register until I wound up in heat. ...But by that point, Cas was a dear friend, practically family in his own right, and I was more than willing to do what I could to help him."

"Well...here's hoping I'm an easier case for ya, kid. I took care of the paperwork with your secretary, but she said you had to collect the scent card thing yourself," Gabriel prompted.

Sam gave a short nod, placing his thumb over the biometric lock on his bottom right desk drawer. Inside was a scent-tight box containing sleeved cards of scents, as well as blank scent cards. He removed one and stood, walking around the desk and leaning against the front of it, holding the scent card out. "All you have to do is rub it against your scent gland on your wrist," he informed.

Gabriel took it, looking it over. He glanced up at Sam with raised brows. When he received a nod, Gabriel shrugged, eyes back on the card before he did as instructed and held it back to Sam. Sam took it with a small smile.

"It may take a while, Gabe...in the meantime, you can schedule whatever follow-ups you want to keep updated on things. There's no subsequent fees for that. But I promise...I'll do my best for you," he assured. It was more than a promise to find Gabriel a good match; it was a promise to find someone that wouldn't break the kind, funny alpha's heart again.

Gabriel shot Sam a bright smile, like he understood exactly what wasn't being said, and silently left without another word between them.

Sam stared after him, trying to figure out why his heart had skipped a beat with that parting expression.

Christmas came and went, and Dean's birthday was approaching. Gabriel had taken to joining Cas and Sam once a week at lunch, at their favorite cafe, and presently, and presently, they were grilling Sam for gift ideas.

Sam was smiling down at his salad, listening to them fuss back and forth with their own ideas, trying to get something out of Sam every so often.

Finally looking up, Sam gave a short nod to himself. "So, Gabe...I think maybe you should spring for a crib," he began.

The two men sitting across from him drew up short. Sam's eyes moved from Gabriel to Cas.

Cas' eyes went impossibly wide and he proceeded to drop his sandwich into his lap. Not that he noticed...not that any of them cared in that moment.

Gabriel was the first to react, beyond the discarded sandwich. He whipped around in his seat bodily, practically vibrating with happy energy. His scent was flooding the cafe...but somehow it wasn't overwhelming Sam. If anything, it was relaxing, for all the bright happiness to it.

"Cassie!" he exclaimed, eyes moving between his brother's face and his stomach.

Cas' mouth started to work, but no sound came out. Sam chuckled, knowing that Cas was both trying to ask and not wanting to ask, because he didn't doubt Sam. All the same, Sam provided a quiet, "I'm sure."

Castiel looked down at his stomach then, hands slowly moving to it, cupping the lack-of-swell delicately.

"Tell Dean you're working late...text him, if you're still overwhelmed. And we'll go shopping for a way to tell him," Sam ventured softly.

Cas looked up, his eyes vaguely teary, and nodded.

"You know your way around a grill?" Gabriel's voice came. It was Dean's birthday party, and because of that, Sam was resolved not to let his brother man the grill, but instead relax and enjoy it.

He glanced over his shoulder at Gabriel and gave a half-shrug. "I'm not as good as Dean with it, honestly...but yeah, I manage," he spoke, looking back at the burgers. Those, he hadn't bothered to assemble, instead opting to let Dean do that much. His burgers were just better, by far.

Gabriel stepped up next to him. "I still can't scent it yet. Are you--"

"Very, Gabriel. You're forgetting, I scented..." he began, but then grimaced, shutting down that line of conversation. "Sorry, I...I didn't mean to--"

"No, no...I'm way over Kali, honestly. And I wasn't even thinking about that, but you have a point. You scented her pregnancy and could even tell it wasn't mine. So...I'm sorry for questioning," he said with a shrug.

Sam chuckled and shook his head. "I'm kinda used to it. ...You know, I have no idea what you do for a living," he said, switching topics.

Gabriel tensed slightly, and when Sam looked down at him with a curious frown, he could see the alpha's eyes were guarded. All the same, Gabriel met his gaze, lips quirking into a smirk as he shrugged. "I'm a baker," he said.

Sam nodded, smiling a bit. "I'm guessing you get judged for that a lot, but Gabriel...you know I'm an omega, by the information Cas has given you. And the matchmaking field is pretty much dominated by alphas--True Alphas, at that. I get what it's like to be disregarded because of your occupation," he said, looking back at the burgers and starting to flip 'em.

"Yeah, well, when you're constantly being harassed for being an omega with a knot, it tends to all add up."

Sam frowned, feeling a surge of protective anger...and a bit of commiseration as well. "You're talking to an alpha that gets heats. Ya know, when I'm off suppressants. ...Whoever says that shit is ignorant, Gabe. You are who you are, you do what you love, and fuck anyone who says any of it's wrong."

Gabriel barked out a laugh, looking up at Sam again. Sam met his gaze with another curious frown. "Never heard you cuss before, kiddo," he explained.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm so sorry, how very un-omega of me," he said flatly. "Now fuck off," he added.

Gabriel laughed loudly, head tilting back. Sam took in the sight, then quickly redirected his attention away from the beautiful column of the golden alpha's throat, and back onto the burgers. Dean would murder him if he burned something.

They ate, they laughed...and Dean didn't notice that Cas was not drinking the beer he'd handed him. It helped that Sam and Gabe were keeping him distracted.

But the meal was over, and Dean was starting to eye the pile of presents his friends and family had brought like an overeager ten year old. He stood and clapped his hands together. "Alright guys...I'm going to see what you all got me!" he announced.

Before he could take a step, though, Cas stood and was surging toward the presents, and Sam was around the table, pushing him back into his seat. "Cas is giving you his first, then you can pick whose you want to open after that," he ordered his older brother.

Dean's brow furrowed, but he shrugged his shoulders under Sam's hands, grinning happily.

Cas returned with a thin rectangular present. He glanced uncertainly at Sam, but Sam just gave a short nod. With that, Cas passed the gift to Dean.

The exchange between the omegas hadn't been lost on the birthday boy, and he was glancing between them curiously before pushing aside his empty plate and starting to unwrap the present.

When Cas and Sam had gone out to seek something as a birthday present, they hadn't found something fitting...not exactly, anyway. But they'd passed by the children's books, and Sam had seen a copy.

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.

As the book was unwrapped, the copy that had been buried in Sam's attic for years, Dean's scent became a mixture of confusion and grief.

When, after a couple of moments of confusion pressed on and Dean finally lifted his gaze to Cas, Sam's brother-in-law shifted uneasily. "I, w-we...Sam informed me of your attachment to that story, and managed to dig out this particular copy. We thought you would...like to read it. ...T-to," he started, a stuttering, nervous mess as his hand came up to his belly unconsciously. "...our pup."

It seemed like the words had bounced right off of Dean's skull as he went entirely still. Sam tilted his head, and nearly laughed to see his brother wasn't even breathing.

Finally, with a sucked-in gasp of air, Dean's eyes moved from Cas' face to the hand on his tummy.

There was a click from behind Sam just as the spark of realization lit in Dean's eyes, and Sam glanced back to see Gabriel grinning down at the screen of a camera.

Between one blink and the next, Dean had Cas in his arms and was pressing his nose against the scent gland of the omega's neck, desperately trying to smell the truth for himself.

When Sam started to chuckle, Dean's wide, wild eyes turned on him. Knowing his brother couldn't pick it up just yet, Sam just gave a nod.

Dean turned back to Cas, hands on his shoulders as he looked down at his belly, then back up at Cas. "...We're having a pup!" he exclaimed brightly. His scent was bright and wonderfully happy, eclipsing every other scent in the room.

Sam had to duck out onto the porch.

The week of Valentine's Day rolled around, and the day before, a Tuesday that was the first day of Sam's work-week, he pulled up to a strange sight.

There was a sky-blue van parked directly outside the front doors of his office. It had a baby-pink background for the logo that read "Angel Cakes" in white script.

The back doors of the van were open, as were the front doors of his office.

Sam took up his parking spot and got out, heading for the building to see what was going on. If there was some sort of fiasco going on, he needed to clear it up immediately. February was his busiest month, especially this week when people were deciding to go all-in on finding love.

"Lenore?" he called as he neared the open doors.

"Sam! We've got a cupcake donation, to serve to potential clients!" he heard his secretary say as he stepped in.

He recognized Gabriel before he even turned around, shooting him one of those playful grins. He'd apparently brought a nice-looking buffet table to set the cupcakes on, too.

"Gabe..." he began.

Immediately, Gabe was waving a hand through the air. "Don't fuss! I figured it'd be mutually beneficial, if I donated some cupcakes for your customers, and gained some for myself, too. Besides, it's only because of you that we're going to be uncles in the first place! I had to give ya some kinda gift," he said.

Sam shot Gabriel an uncertain look, but then nodded. "Well, I hope it brings in business for you, at least, in that case."

The alpha raised an eyebrow. "Cassie and Dean-o's mating cake? I made that Samster. You tell me if you think sampling my cupcakes will bring me business or not," he huffed.

Sam blinked, then smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, you're right. ...Thanks, Gabe, I appreciate it."

Gabriel gave another dismissive wave. "I'll have someone come by before you close up to take away the leftovers, and someone'll bring more tomorrow. And the next day, too. Just for this week, that's all," he said, before Sam could object.

Sam nodded again, and Gabriel clapped his hands together. "Well, back to the grindstone. See ya, Samshine!" Gabriel spoke, heading out past Sam toward the van.

Samshine...?

Sam really needed to go see about a doctor with the way his heart lurched every so often these days.

Gabriel was a good man. A wonderful Alpha. He deserved to be happy and to have a mate. And if Sam could manage to find his true mate, by some out-there chance, then Gabriel could have a full-on family, too.

He deserved that.

It was March now, and things were going to be slowing down for a few months. It was as good a time as any. ...And given that he'd had a heat roughly a year ago, it wouldn't be as bad this time. Before that last heat, it'd been at least five years.

He gave Lenore three weeks off, with pay, as he had the last time. All appointments were either cancelled or moved.

It would take a week for the suppressants to work out of his system. In that week, he went through the days as normal as possible, meeting Cas for lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

He set Gabriel's scent card on the dresser Thursday night, along with his scent-sealed boxes of cards for his other clients, as he'd done when he had done this for Cas. He hoped he could find a match, if not _the_ match, for Gabriel amongst his clients.

He adamantly refused to acknowledge the ache in his chest. He was a professional, and Gabriel was a client, and he was going to do his job. And the sooner Gabriel found someone, mated them, was happy...the sooner Sam could let go of his stupid little...crush or what-have-you.

Dean called him the next morning, but Sam was already beginning to come down with a fever. His older brother was asking about the two of them going out for dinner, but Sam had passed, saying he thought he'd had a cold. Because, while Dean had been happy to have Cas in his life, he hadn't liked what Sam had put himself through for it. He wouldn't like knowing that Sam was doing it again, even if it was for Gabriel.

"Well, shit...alright, well, I wanted to ask you about...a uh, a pup shower? For Cas? I...I have no idea--"

Sam chuckled softly over the line, cutting off his brother. "I'll plan one, Dean. Don't worry. I think the beginning of June would be a good time for it, hm?"

"...Yeah, Sammy, that would be awesome. Thanks, little brother."

Sam winced as a cramp almost punched a sound outta him.

"...Sam?"

"Sorry, think I might throw up. ...Probably the flu, but you shouldn't come by. You don't wanna risk Cas catching it," he spoke, voice pitched low to try and disguise the pain as nausea. It wasn't hard to do; the pain was nauseating.

"Alright. Take care of yourself, Sammy. Call me when you feel better."

"Alright, Dean."

By Friday afternoon, Sam's heat was in full swing.

And he knew.

The next moment of clarity Sam had was, as he later came to find out, midmorning on Tuesday.

He knew, in that moment, that this was worse than the last heat he'd elected to endure. And he knew he needed help.

He managed to reach his phone, but he didn't remember anything for a while after that.

The next thing Sam knows, he's in a hospital, vomiting over the side of his bed at all the acrid, sharp scents assaulting him. After he's resettled in the bed, he's told it's Sunday, and he's suffering pining sickness.

Pining sickness. Ridiculous, he thinks. Over a damned scent card.... But, well, his nose is unnervingly sensitive, so he supposes that was enough.

They tell him he has to stop taking his suppressants, because resuming them will likely cause a fundamental shift in his biology that could do some serious damage to not only his senses, but to his internal organs. The doctor takes the time to emphasize the severity of it all, and when Sam questions, it's revealed that in Sam's circumstances, resuming a suppressant of the strength he's been taking after what he's been through could ultimately result in death.

The doctor leaves, and not two minutes later, a brick wall of rage in the form of one older brother walks in. When Sam winds up vomiting bile on the floor beside him again, the rage recedes, but only minutely.

"The fuck, Sam?" he barks out, now reeking of worry and anger.

Sam can't help it. He whimpers under the assault on his senses.

Dean lets out another curse, realizing he's not going to get his answers and that he's only hurting the sick omega, and he beats a hasty retreat.

He kinda blacks out or dozes or something for a bit. He's aware of movement, of the sharp scent of bleach as his mess is cleaned up.

When he truly comes to again, Cas is sitting beside the bed, and Sam smiles slightly. His friend, his brother-in-law...he's doing his best to make his scent as soft as possible. Given that he's pregnant, it isn't terribly hard, and Sam relaxes under the barest reprieve it offers.

"Sorry," he croaks out, drawing Cas' attention from the window.

Cas moves and picks up a cup of water with a straw sticking out of it, bringing the straw to Sam's lips. Sam sucks down the water as slowly as he can manage to make himself, not wanting to get sick, and soon the cup is empty.

"Thanks, Cas. ...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I just...I was..."

"Trying to help a client, I imagine," Cas speaks, setting the empty cup down on the hospital tray table. "I hadn't realized you'd become close enough to someone else to attempt that method once again. Neither had Dean. You haven't spoken of anyone to either of us, and even when you did this for me, you had mentioned our friendship to Dean beforehand, from what he's told me. But I don't understand why it's put you in here," he admitted.

Sam's not sure what to say. Not sure what to do. But Cas is thankfully patient, waiting on Sam to gather his thoughts.

It's a hard thing to do. Sam's heavily ruled by emotion, but he's always been logical at his center, too. And right now, logic is fleeting. He can't really think around the fact that he has a mate, he has a true mate. That the man he's been developing feelings for, despite how few and far between their interactions are, is his mate.

How much does he tell Cas? Or Dean? He sighs, sinking back into the bed again and closing his eyes.

"I wanted to help him. I...I was thinking that...I wanted him happy. So I...did what I did for you, with his scent card. But...but when my heat hit..." Sam opens his eyes, licking his lips and looking over at his brother-in-law, who's listening attentively. "...He's my mate, Cas. His scent threw me into freaking pining sickness. ...The doctor said it's going to take weeks for me to recover without him, and that...fuck, if I want to use suppressants, I'm going to have to go with low-grade shit or it'll..."

"Why would...why would you need to recover without him?" Cas asks after a long beat of silence.

Sam feels a tremor wrack his body and he shuts his eyes. "He came to me for help finding someone. If I reveal that I'm his match...it could blow up in my face in the worst damned way. Not only could he reject me entirely, which will leave me never the same again, but it could destroy everything I've built. If he were to reject me, my professionalism would be called into question. I could, and probably would, be accused of manipulating clients for my own gains. It could potentially wind up with lawsuits against me, and...a freaking media circus on top of that, and...and now I can't even go back on my normal suppressants. ...Fuck," he spoke, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling.

Cas leaves sometime later. Sam dozes until dinner, eats, and then sleeps through the night.

The next morning, Sam wakes to Dean in the chair at his bedside.

His scent is barely there, covered in the disgustingly blank smell of blockers. Still, Sam can tell that Dean's trying to remain as passively calm as he can manage.

"Sammy. Who is it?"

Sam shakes his head.

Dean smirks. "Someone I know, then."

Sam tenses and glares death at his brother.

Dean deliberates silently, ignoring Sam's expression. "...I don't know anybody that's come to see you. Not that they've told me. ...But ya know, Benny's talked about it a few times. ...Is it Benny?"

Sam huffs out a sigh, relaxing into the bed. He's never going to escape his brother's interrogation, and he knows it.

It makes him no more willing to tell, to expose this.

He smells Cas before he hears his footsteps approaching, in the quiet while Dean tries to figure out who it could be that has his little brother suffering through pining sickness.

"Sam, how are you feeling?"

"Like Death sitting on a tombstone, eating shit on a cracker," Sam mutters, opening his eyes. His nose gives a small twitch at the same time his eyes zero in on a pastry bag in the pregnant omega's hands. Breakfast hasn't been brought by yet, and though he doubts he'll be able to keep much down, given the sickness and the scents of the hospital, he is still hungry.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your condition improves soon. ...Gabriel sent a few of his most popular pastries, and regrets he is unable to visit. It appears that one of his workers quit, and another is ill," Cas says.

Dean stiffens suddenly. Sam does his best to ignore it, to give away nothing, instead holding out his hand for the bag with a quiet, wanton, "Fooooood."

Castiel hands it over, and Sam digs out a wonderful looking croissant that he can smell lightly sweetened strawberry jam within.

Before he can take a bite, Dean speaks. "Sam...." His tone is warning.

Cas looks at him confusedly, having no idea what he's stepped in on, or what conclusion that Dean's just reached.

Sam's damn hands are shaking, and containing his own scent is all he can focus on.

"Are you serious? That little bas--"

" **GET OUT!** " Sam suddenly yells, turning his flashing omega-gold eyes on his brother. His scent floods the room, floods the floor, filled with rage and despair.

Castiel jumps in startle at the yell, gags at the scent, and flees readily.

Dean stumbles to his feet, backing up a couple of steps in surprise. He halts, halfway to the door, frowning. "Sam--"

"Don't you fucking come here again," Sam snarls lowly, baring his teeth.

Even with his scent drowning the whole of the floor, Sam can still pick up the tinge of hurt under the blockers his brother is wearing.

Sam can't care, won't care. This is a bad enough situation as it is. He'd rather be alone, permanently, than deal with any shit Dean has to give him. Than deal with anyone or anything.

Dean leaves with a pained expression on his face.

Sam drops the pastry and pastry bag onto the hospital tray table.

When a doctor finally comes in, ten minutes later, the scent he's put off has faded. Sam requests an immediate transfer to a hospital across town, and that no one requesting information be allowed to so much as know which hospital he's been sent to.

By afternoon, he's in an ambulance for transport.

He changes his number, over the next few weeks, while he's recovering. It effectively ends the calls and texts.

He contacts Lenore and directs her to refund all his current clients and has her bring a lawyer by with the necessary paperwork to effectively shut down his business.

He gives his loyal secretary the best severance package he can manage without putting himself out.

He contacts his landlord. A moving company is let in to his apartment to pack his things and move them to a storage facility while he's in the hospital. His landlord is kind enough to let him out of his lease with him only sacrificing his security deposit for it. It's worth it.

He considers his next step. Definitely getting out of this state, he knows that much. Returning to school and working, either part-time or from home, he thinks. But what should he go to school for?

There'd been a few things he'd considered, during his first go-around. Law had been a strong contender, but...no. No, after these past handful of years bringing people together, making them happy...he wants to make people happy still.

He winces at the heart-wrenching, aching pain that lances through him.

He wanted Gabriel to be happy. ...Hopefully, he still can be.

And hopefully he'll be able to be enough of an uncle to cover for Sam's absence.

He'll never see Dean and Cas' baby.

Not for the first time, Sam fall asleep with tears on his lashes.

Another couple of days, and the doctor will release him. Sam's relieved, even if he doesn't really believe he's well enough for it. But he's so tired of being confined to the damned hospital floor, barely being allowed to walk outside his room.

Lunch comes, and he pushes the slop around the plate, idly taking a bite.

He scents her before he notices her shadow in the doorway.

"Lenore? Is--" he begins, but she looks so damned apologetic, and the reason why quickly is apparent. Following her into the room is Dean and Cas. Both of them are wearing blockers. Both of them have thunderous expressions. Both of them have rage slipping from under the blockers, and Sam can do little more than sigh in defeat and sink back against the raised back of the bed.

"Your phone's disconnected."

"Changed the number," Sam responds to Dean's bitter tone, his own radiating exhausted.

"And the empty apartment?"

"Skipping town," Sam admits to Castiel.

"Were you even going to give him a choice, Sam? Clue him in and see if he might want whatever with you?" Dean barked.

Sam closes his eyes, tries to hold his scent back, but it's filling the room. Lenore gasps softly from beside the door at the smell of pure heart-rending agony.

"Sam..." Cas' voice comes. The rage leaking from beyond the blockers is no longer there, from either of them, but whatever replaced it is too soft to break past the scent-disguisers, and Sam can't really care. "Sam, you said you wanted Gabriel to be happy. But if you don't present him with an option, with the very strong and viable option that you, yourself, are, and allow him to make a choice, then how are you ever going to find out if you could make him happy, or at the very least, let him have an idea of where to start?"

"I expla--"

"You told Cas that you could lose your business, Sammy. And then you went and shut it down anyway. ...Man...baby brother, why are you running?"

Sam shook his head. He couldn't. He couldn't do this. He wasn't...he was never meant to...he wasn't....

"Sam...?" Castiel's voice came. He was stepping closer.

Too close, everyone was too close!

Sam flew off the bed, diving into the corner, yelping as his IV forcibly yanked out of his hand, small squirts of blood going over the floor, over his gown, into his hair as he pressed himself against the wall, hands up to shield himself.

"Sammy?!" Dean's voice came, and Sam knew that voice, should never be scared of it, it always took care of him, but--

But it'd left him all alone for four years. Four years of hiding it all away, even from Dean, because there was nothing to be done, not when Dean was barely surviving life on his own. He couldn't take care of his little brother, too.

So Sam had endured their drunken father's abuse and all the words of degradation that had come with it.

He wasn't worth it. Wasn't worth anything. No one would want him. He was weak, pathetic, trash. Only good for warming a knot, never meant to be anything more. Garbage, nothing, smudge on a floor, stain on humanity, weak little whore, not worth the scraps on the floor, only good for taking--

"Shhhh," from just in front of him.

Sam's head was swimmy, and his sight bleary when he tried to look.

"Hey...hey Samshine. You with us?"

That voice was warm. It was warmth and home, in a way that home never was.

Sam opened his mouth, feeling his face crumple in confusion. What was going on? He tried to ask, but all that escaped his lips was a whimper.

"Mm...that's alright, take your time."

It was close. He could almost see the person that spoke, but his vision was just wonky. ...So was his sense of smell. He realized his nose was clogged. Was he sick? He wiped at it, but the action did nothing for him.

"Sa--" he heard another voice begin, but a motion in front of him cut it short.

There was a low murmur, "--handle it," a deeper voice was saying.

Silence stretched, and Sam...he didn't like it. He lowered his arms slowly, trying to right his vision as he stared at the person in front of him. They were so hazy, but they were close enough that Sam could feel warmth from them.

It was a good warmth.

But if Sam tried to get closer, would they let him? Let him into their warmth? ...Or would they see that he was _lesser_ , would they push him away?

Movement broke his introspection, and he realized that the person was reaching toward him. Slowly. So slow, it was as if the limb was pressing through something impossibly thick between them.

Sam's eyes went to the hand coming closer, and he could make it out pretty well now. As it gets close enough to make his vision double, his eyes leave it and move back to the person before him.

The hand pauses just in front of his face, then carefully connects, fingers splaying over the back and underside of his jaw, palm cupping the meat of his cheek.

Sam can almost smell them, despite his clogged nose. This person is comfort, more than he's ever had, and his eyes slip shut as a low whine sounds in his throat.

"It's alright, Sam. I...I don't know what happened. Dean-o didn't seem to have a clue, either, but...we're here. We...we love you, Sam, and it's gonna be alright. You understand me?"

Sam opens his eyes. His vision aligns enough for him to make out golden-honey-caramel eyes, a slightly crooked nose, and lips that...that shouldn't look like that. Shouldn't look so sad, should always be smiling or smirking, or bearing that playful little--

"Gabriel?"

That's how it started, the full blown panic attack in the hospital. When Sam came out of his stupor enough, nurses had finally come in, but they hadn't interfered with Gabriel drawing him out of it.

Sam had tried to shrink back and away from the alpha, but Gabriel had planted himself in the hospital bed right beside Sam and refused to budge, save trips to the bathroom later on.

A doctor had been called, a psych doctor. Lenore had long since left, but Dean and Cas were there, watching with concerned eyes that Sam shrunk away from. ...He'd tried to sink into the bed, toward the railing, but Gabriel had tugged him around his waist and allowed Sam's tall frame to impossibly curl and tuck against the alpha's side.

When the psych doctor arrived, he'd tried to coax Sam out of it to answer questions. It hadn't gone very well until Gabriel started nudging and nuzzling against him softly.

Once the doctor had gotten Sam to confirm his name, his date of birth, and the current month and year, he asked, "Do you know what happened, why you became upset?"

Sam, for all that he'd been coming out of it, immediately tried to bury himself under Gabriel.

"Shhh," Gabriel had intoned lowly, twisting a bit so he could comb his fingers through Sam's hair. Sam had pressed up into the touch, sighing as a wave of peace flooded him. "C'mon Samshine. Where's your head?" the alpha prompted.

It was a fight in him, a painful twisting fight that had him whimpering despite the comfort of his alpha. "No good," he finally mumbled.

"What's no good, Sam?" the doctor prompted.

When Sam didn't respond, Gabriel shifted in his place on the bed again, moving and nuzzling against Sam's cheek. Sam immediately turned into the affection, nuzzling back. When his eyes opened, they met Gabriel's.

Gabriel was staring at him with...with affection, definitely that. Concern, Sam could see that, too. A faint confusion was in the depths of those wonderful sunlight-eyes, too.

Sam opened his mouth. His lips trembled. The hand in his hair started scritching right at the crown of his head and he nearly purred, his eyes fluttering shut. "No good...trash, whore, shit stain, path--"

The hand stopped the scritching and Sam opened his eyes.

Rage.

Sam recoiled, terror sweeping through him. His lower back slammed into the rail behind him and he yelped, panic flooding him as he started seeking an escape route.

Hands caught around his sides, right about where his ribs were. "No, no, baby, it's okay. Shh, Sammy, it's okay," Gabriel's voice came. And it was soft and warm, and it didn't have that rage in it.

Heart pounding in his chest, in his ears, Sam slowly looked back at Gabriel, scared of what he'd find.

But there was warmth in him again. Warmth from his voice, warmth in his eyes, in his hands that were holding so carefully to Sam.

Sam stilled, but he didn't move back to Gabriel's side.

"Sammy." Dean. Everything was okay then, right? If Dean was here? Sam's eyes slowly moved, his head turning, and he found his brother standing with someone at his side (Cas, that's Castiel, Sam), watching with a strained expression of pain. "Sammy...who said...who--" his big brother's voice was breaking. Why was he upset?

"Samshine," Gabriel spoke. Far more quickly than when he'd looked at Dean, Sam returned his attention to Gabriel. Gabriel gave a soft, warm smile, and Sam felt like his insides were butter melting at that warmth. "Hey, baby...can you tell me who said those nasty things about you?"

Sam blinked, frowning in confusion. ...Nasty? "'s true," he murmured.

"No, Sam," the doctor's voice came. Sam ducked slightly at his voice, sliding just the barest bit back toward his alpha. "Those things are not true, and you will realize that it time. But we do need to know who said them."

Sam's eyes flicked toward--near--the doctor, but didn't actually land on him. He scooted a bit closer to Gabriel again.

"Was it Dad?" finally broke the silence.

Sam shook. He felt like his bones were going to rattle right out of him. And he practically dove in and down behind Gabriel, forcing his hands from the omega's sides as he hid.

"...Your Dad's dead, right Dean-o?"

"...Yeah," was the croaked answer.

Sam can feel the motion of Gabriel's body as he nods. He then moves slightly and speaks again. "That's all for now, possibly for today."

"...I would have to agree," the doctor's voice spoke resignedly. "I can prescribe a mild sedative to help him rest, but I don't believe he can consent. ...Which of you would be the next of kin?"

"Uh, me," Dean's voice came.

"Would you consent to the sedative on his behalf?"

"Dean, don't...he doesn't need to be drugged," Gabriel's voice protested.

Drugged...sedative. There was a choked sound from in the room as Sam started shaking, his hands scrambling at Gabriel's back to seek further safety there.

"N-no, please, please, I'll be good, p-please, I--"

"Oh, fuck," Dean's voice comes, and it sounds devastated.

It's another few seconds, but then Gabriel is moving, turning, pulling Sam close and pressing their foreheads together. "No sedative, Sam. It's alright, sweetheart. I'm here. We're here. It's alright."

"No sedative," Dean echoes, probably to the doctor, but Sam's not sure. He feels himself relaxing and tired despite himself.

"I'm here. Rest, I'm here," Gabriel speaks quietly.

Gabriel is home, warmth...safety.

Sam closes his eyes.

When he came to again, his head was far clearer.

Ignoring that he was solidly ensconced in Gabriel's embrace and that there was no way to extricate himself without waking the alpha, and thus turning the talk onto whatever was going on there, Sam decided to focus on what had happened to lead up to this point and let the sun of his life sleep.

...He had repressed a lot of shit for a long time, and he honestly was surprised that it hadn't surfaced before now. Why now, he didn't really understand, and he supposed a professional would be able to help him make sense of it, in time. But the fact of the matter was, the dam had broke. It'd all come to the surface and he'd...he was fucking embarrassed at the show of weakened behavior that he'd displayed. He'd always tried so hard to not be the stereotypical omega of old. Partly due to the four years of hell he'd endured, and partly because of his alpha-like build.

But he'd broken, for whatever reason, and had barely come back to himself at all. And what little sense of self he had gained, before sleeping it all off, had had him trying to hide behind the alpha that his biology considered to be his.

That was humiliating.

...And then there was Dean.

He was sure Dean had a few ideas on what had happened, given the words Sam had spilled, and his odd behavior and reactions. And likely, his brother was going to want to know everything.

Sam didn't think he could spill it. And not just because it'd be him reliving it all, but because...because Dean had loved their father so much, despite how shitty he could be at times in front of his alpha son. If he knew everything that had gone on, John's real personality that he'd kept hidden from everyone but Sam...well, Sam wasn't sure that Dean's heart would be able to handle it.

Dean didn't love or trust easily, for whatever reason, but when he did, it was with his whole heart, his whole being. It was rare that someone managed to break his heart, and when they did, it changed his brother in minute ways that showed just how deep the pain of it went.

Sam resolved to never let on about any of what he'd gone through in front of his brother again.

Sighing softly, Sam's eyes opened and took in the soft, slack face before. Gabriel was still contentedly asleep, and Sam couldn't help but wonder at that.

How was it that Gabriel just so happened to have been there when Sam broke down? Sam hadn't scented him, before his mind had snapped on him. But he'd obviously been there. Sam carefully sniffed the air, trying not to move too much. ...There was no lingering neutral tone that blockers tended to carry, so he hadn't been concealing himself. But he'd known where Sam was, just as Dean and Cas had, and when Sam went into his panic, it had been Gabriel that drew him out.

For the love of everything that was, why? Wasn't it obvious that Sam was broken and disgusting and not worth the effort?

He bit back a whimper at his own thoughts and carefully kept it from reflecting in his scent. In fact, he turned his thoughts to his scent and trying to manipulate it into something neutral rather than the stupid contentedness that it had been radiating during his sleep. He didn't get this, he wouldn't get this. Gabriel deserved so much more, and Sam wouldn't drag him down. Nor would he let on just how much it hurt to be without his--the alpha.

By the time Gabriel woke, round about twenty minutes later, Sam's scent was void of anything but his natural scent components. He watched Gabriel's brow furrow, then smooth, his nose give a little twitch and his lips pull into a faint smile. His eyes blinked open sleepily, and there was warmth there when the honeyed beauties met Sam's gaze and--

"I'd like my bed to myself, please," Sam spoke in a carefully quiet and even tone.

Gabriel startled, blinking a few times, then looked down, looking the both of them over. A frown tugged at his lips as he looked back up at Sam. There was a question in his eyes, and a twitch of his lips that wasn't quite a smile, before he was moving and pulling away to get up. "Yeah, of course, kiddo," he spoke as he went.

Despite the space beside him now no longer being occupied, Sam stayed where he was, staring where Gabriel had been, unable to bring himself to move and spread out more comfortably.

Gabriel stood beside the bed, hands in his pockets. It took barely a minute before he was fidgeting a bit. "So--"

"Don't," Sam said, finally moving and pushing himself up to sit, but he didn't bother to look at Gabriel. "I appreciate that you were here and helped draw me out of my head, Gabe. I truly appreciate that. But whatever you're thinking of it all, you're wrong. So...don't try and go down that road."

Sam stared at the wall across from him, right next to the closed door of his bathroom. It took several minutes, and in that time, Gabriel's scent had become as carefully neutral as Sam's own.

"You know what we are, Sam," Gabriel's voice finally began, his tone holding a levity that Sam had never heard out of the alpha, not once. "We're not _just compatible_ , and you know it. You may be having pining sickness right now, but do you really think you, that either of us, needs to try and ride out rejection sickness?"

Sam swallowed reflexively, his eyes giving a slow blink as he continued to focus on the wall across the room. His lips gave the barest tremble, probably not able to be seen, but his voice was surprisingly steady as he replied, "Better than the alternative."

Gabriel's tone went from serious to icy in his next words. "The alternative. Right. No, no, you're right. I wouldn't want to saddle you with an alpha like me, after all. I mean, I might as well be an omega, for all my size and stature. And then my chosen career is one typical of omegas to boot. Heh, and don't get me started on the self-worth issues, especially not after Kali. Yeah, you're right. See ya next life, Sam," Gabriel spoke, finally moving and stepping away from the bed, heading for the door.

He'd barely made it past the end of Sam's bed before the omega had, scrambling, launched himself off of it and grabbed onto Gabriel, clutching him in a tight hug.

He was aware that he was trembling. Because he hated that, hated what Gabriel was thinking, what he clearly thought of himself.

He wasn't aware that he was chanting soft, pleading, "No's" until Gabriel shifted around in his arms and started shushing him gently.

"Shh, now, Sam, it's alright. It's alright, I promise. Can you hear me? Can you understand right now?" he asked quietly.

Sam blinked a few times, frowning as he realized what he was doing. ...But he couldn't get himself to let go of his alpha. With a whimper at his own stupidity, he nodded to Gabriel.

"Good. Okay, now listen, alright? I don't know what happened to you. I've got some guesses, and...if I'm anywhere near right, it's all horrible shit. And given what you were like yesterday, I'm pretty sure that it's all somehow equated to you having no self-worth at all. ...And that hurts. You get that right now, don't you? After what I just said, you get that you thinking of yourself like that hurts me, right?"

Sam shook. He nodded, but there was a difference here. Where it wasn't true of Gabriel, where Gabriel's thinking was flawed, it was the utter truth for Sam.

Gabriel was quiet for a moment, then sighed softly. "We need to talk Sam. Please? Can we talk, please?" When Sam did little more than whimper, Gabriel's scent flooded with sadness that edged on despair.

Sam sneezed, and Gabriel gave a soft chuckle, nuzzling up under Sam's chin. "How about...I talk? And you hear me out, hear everything I have to say?"

Sam finally chanced moving back just enough so he could look down at the alpha still in his arms. Gabriel met his gaze, and his eyes were filled with a wild, desperate hope.

How could Sam deny him?

With a soft sigh, Sam nodded, slowly letting go and moving back to the bed. He climbed in one side, and in the next instant, Gabriel had climbed in the other. They were both laying on their sides, facing one another, similar to how they'd been upon waking, saving that their hands and arms were kept to themselves.

Gabriel was quiet for a moment, looking at Sam but not seeing him as he appeared to gather his thoughts.

Sam didn't mind. He'd agreed to listen, and he would. That meant giving Gabriel leave to figure out what it was he wanted to say, too.

And finally: "From the first time I met you, when I heard you laughing over my little gag gift at the mating planning meeting...it drove me insane that I couldn't catch your scent. Cassie had to tell me why it wasn't there, had to explain all of that to me. ...And I was with Kali, so I thought it didn't much matter, really. I just wanted to be your friend because you seemed pretty awesome. Especially after I found out what you did for my baby brother.

"And then, Cassie and Dean-o both picked you for their best man. I have to admit, it hurt a little, but I already knew Cassie wanted me to hand him off, so I was fine with it. But when they asked you, right in front of me, you looked at me almost immediately. I mean, it was hardly more than a passing glance, and our brothers didn't notice the look, but...you looked upset on my behalf, in that half a second. But then you seemed to be of the same mind I was, that it was their mating ceremony, and that it was best to just do what was possible to make it what they wanted. I didn't begrudge you that. ...And then you left the bachelor parties to me. And I was so damned grateful that you were trading off your brother's party for my brother's best-man speech...I think I might've been a little smitten at that point, but...I was still with Kali so I ignored it as a stupid passing fancy.

"You came to Cassie's bachelor party, and I'm guessing because of how hammered you got, that's the reason you didn't go to Dean-o's, but...once you had a couple of shots in you, you were...something else. Even as much as you let loose, you kept the focus on Cassie and got him to let go and have a bit of fun. And uh..." he paused here, then sighed softly. "I don't think you remember anything after you took shot number ten, but...we wound up dancing and I did something I...hated myself for. I kissed you, Sammy. I was in a relationship, and I freaking kissed you. Then bolted like the asshat I was. Apparently, no one saw, and you must've blacked out a bit or something, because...yeah.

"Then the ceremony, and Kali and...I knew something was off with her because of you. And after I broke up with her, after I took my mourning my failed relationship period, I...I nearly asked Cassie for your number. But I honestly didn't think I had much of a chance. I mean...I know you probably don't want to hear all this, given what you think of yourself, but what I see? Samshine, you're beautiful. You've got expressive hazel eyes, luscious impossible locks, you're tall and that's a big check mark on my list of amazing things that turn me on. ...You're kind and giving, and get my humor. You love your family, and that...that makes my heart happy in eyes I can't express. And I'm...me. I didn't think I was enough. So instead of asking you out, I decided...I decided to become one of your clients instead.

"And despite that, I still wanted to be closer to you. So I started tagging along with Cassie to your lunches. And Dean-bean's birthday was coming up and..." Gabriel was grinning at the memory, his scent starting to leak bright happiness. "I still can't believe I'm going to be an uncle...that we're going to be uncles. ...Then there was the party, and I...I wound up exposing some of my insecurities. And you didn't bat an eyelash at any of it, not a single thing, kiddo. Pretty sure I was done on you at that point.

"So, uh...the cupcakes were totally not for our mutual benefit. They were for you, the best way I could sneak you a Valentine's Day gift," Gabriel spoke. Then his expression and scent both became melancholy.

"Then you vanished and next thing I know, Cassie's saying you're in the hospital for pining sickness. And that _hurt_ ," he spoke, voice cracking. "I think I nearly went into it myself, despite not having a clue what your scent was like. He told me...told me that you'd tried to do what you did for him with another client, and that their scent had triggered the response. And ya know, I must be some kind of weird, because I didn't even consider, not for a second, that it coulda been me. ...Not until you vanished totally on us and I went with our brothers to your apartment to see if we could figure out what was going on and where you'd gone from there. ...And the place was empty, but you're...you're heat scent was still lingering, Sammy.

"I about when out of my mind. Freaked out Cassie, and Dean...Dean looked angry for a little bit, but uh...I think he knew what was happening. Understood that it wasn't compatibility making me act like that, but...but that you were it, you were my true mate.

"It was me that managed to track down Lenore, when we found the doors to Scents and Sensibility closed with a sign explaining the company was shutting down. I'm still not sure how I managed that, but...I did. And she...really didn't want to give you up, but I made a pretty strong case.

"I pretty much wanted to storm the castle right then. Dean-o was all for it, too. It was Cassie that said we needed to get you to talk about why you were trying to hide, trying to disappear. I didn't like it, but...Dean-o agreed with Cassie, and I knew somewhere in my head that it was the right course of action.

"So...Cassie called my phone, put it on speaker. I hit the mute on mine, so no noise would come through from my end. ...They left me by the elevators on the ground floor and came up to talk to you. ...I listened, and knew something bad was going on up here and in your head, so I wound up taking the stairs, because the elevator just wasn't reaching the ground floor fast enough for me.

"...Look, Sam. Scent, biological compability...all of that be damned. I fell for you when I hadn't a clue what you smelled like. I know that...that you went through something awful. I know that it had to have been at the hands of your father, because that's the only unaccounted-for period where anything like that coulda happened...because Dean's a few years older than you, woulda left home when he hit the right age, and...and your brother is as protective of you as I am of Cassie. He'd never have let whatever traumatized you like this happen if he were there to prevent it. ...But I don't care about that. It's in the past, it's obvious that it's not something you did, but that was done to you, or you wouldn't be hurting like this from it. So to me, that's not you. You...to me, you are...you're hazel eyes that shift dominant colors with the light. You're infuriatingly perfect chestnut hair. You're taller than a freaking mountain. ...You're hilarity, and compassion, and kindness, and devotion, and warmth, love, family, home...Samshine, you're everything that I could've ever wanted, some things I didn't even realize were so vitality important to me. ...Yeah, you've suffered, and you are suffering. But I don't mind it. I want to help you through it. Because I've seen who you are, and I'm so head over heels...I want a life with you. If you'll have me, if you'll let me have an us, I want that with you."

Sam couldn't see Gabriel at this point. Not really. He was there, in front of Sam, but the burning wetness spilling from his eyes made his vision so blurry, the alpha was little more than a watery mirage. He opened his mouth, tried to say something, anything--but all that came out was a hiccupped sob. He felt Gabriel pull him close, and Sam moved and nuzzled his way against Gabriel's neck, up under his chin.

"Please..." he begged through his subsequent cries. "Gabriel, please--"

"I'm here. Not going anywhere, Samshine. I promise. We'll get through all of this," his alpha responded.

Two years passed. Two years of hard road for Sam.

The first few months had been the roughest. He'd snapped at everyone around him for quite some time. Cas had taken to keeping his distance, not wanting to have stress during his pregnancy.

Dean often snapped back until he went too far and Sam wound up trying to dig a hole into the nearest corner to hide himself.

Gabriel would go still when Sam went off on him, just watching him quietly until Sam broke and started crying and pleading for forgiveness for all the harsh, cruel things he would say. And then he'd hold Sam, shush him gently, and let him know that while he didn't like the things being said at him, to him, he understood that the weight of Sam's past was just too much at times, and that he was forgiven for the need to lash out at things he couldn't reach.

Cas and Dean had their baby; a beautiful little girl with Dean's blonde hair and icy blue eyes that weren't quite the deep shade Cas had. They named her Claire, and she was absolutely everything to her daddies and uncles.

It took well over a year before Sam could manage to do more than kiss Gabriel.

But when they'd come together for the first time, it was everything. His chest had had this odd feeling at the careful tenderness his alpha put into every touch, every movement. It was like, all his life, he'd breathed water, and for the first time, he was taking in air.

After that, Sam had nearly become a nymphomaniac. He couldn't get enough of the sensations--whether physical, metaphysical, emotional, or mental--that Gabriel managed to evoke in him.

Fortunately, he managed to curb his appetites after a good many weeks, and managed not to wind up having to go to rehab for being a sex addict, of all things.

But here it was, two years and four months later following his first mental breakdown in the hospital during the end stages of his pining sickness. He and Gabriel had taken great strides together since then, and now shared a home. 

Sam hadn't been able to bring himself to go back into the matchmaking business after everything. Sure, he missed being able to help people, to bring them together and give them happiness...but he'd spent too long running from his own to do it anymore.

It had been under Cas' suggestion that he'd attended an accredited online college that gave credit based on competency. He went for the same field that Cas fell into; accounting. In just under a year, devoting himself to it fully, he managed to complete five years worth of courses and earn his degree.

And so it was that he came to work for Gabriel, managing the books and payroll for Angel Cakes.

Tonight, he had some great news for Gabriel.

He'd made lasagna for their dinner, with cheesy garlic bread and a Caesar salad. Dessert was a chocolate torte that Gabe had taught him how to make. He never could get it right, but Gabe insisted it was good.

Gabriel would be home any minute. The table was set with plates ready and waiting for the both of them. There was a champagne flute sitting by Gabriel's plate, a chilled bottle on the table waiting to be opened, and a bottle of water by Sam's plate.

When Gabriel waltzed in with a call of, "Lucy, I'm hooommme!" Sam immediately strode from the dining room and caught Gabriel up in a teasing kiss, grinning at the dazed look on his alpha's face when they parted.

"Dinner's ready, and I've got some awesome news," he announced.

"News, huh? It's gotta be pretty good to get me a kiss like that," Gabriel quipped, kicking off his shoes and putting them on the stand behind the front door, trailing after the omega to the dining room. He paused when he spotted the champagne bottle, then quirked an eyebrow at Sam.

Sam beamed at him, stepping back a few steps so Gabe could easily get to the still-unopened bottle of bubbly. "Angel Cakes has finally generated enough profit for you to safely secure and open a second location, and have enough to cover expenses for a year, even under the potential strain of poor marketing and losses becoming of a typical first year of business," he announced.

Gabriel blinked a few times. He'd been avoiding opening a second location under the concerns involved with potentially being unable to sustain the newest storefront. So Sam waited for Gabriel to consider things and bring up any other ideas that might throw things off course.

But apparently, Gabriel could find no arguments that he hadn't brought up before, knowing that Sam would've kept all of those in mind. And his eyes lit up. "We...we really can open another?"

Sam beamed and nodded in affirmation.

"Alright, let's crack this bottle open!" Gabriel said, swiftly snagging the champagne up. He ripped off the thin foil covering the cork and popped it off the bottle. Sam laughed at the small splash of escaping alcohol that got on the floor, not minding it in the least.

Gabriel reached for his flute first, as it was the closest, and filled it probably a bit over halfway. He then set it down and looked over to grab up a flute to fill for Sam...only to see there wasn't one. He looked at Sam, quirking an eyebrow and tilting his head just the tiniest bit. "'id ya break all the others, kiddo?"

Sam smiled and stepped closer, knowing that Gabriel was going to try and scent it, even if it was still too early for his nose to pick up just yet. "No, the others are in one piece," he answered, glancing down as he pulled the early indication tester out of his pocket, holding it up in front of himself, near to eye-height for Gabriel.

Gabriel froze up...and then dropped the champagne bottle. Thankfully, it didn't break, but the alcohol was going everywhere.

Not that either of them cared.

Gabriel's eyes met Sam's. Sam had expected a bit of doubt, honestly, given what had happened with his alpha's ex. ...But there was none, and Sam was so, so thankful for that. He really didn't want to argue the validity of their pup's parentage to the man he was hoping to mate someday soon.

Gabriel reached up slowly, as if afraid of startling Sam. He probably was...there were still days when Sam would spook all too easily. But Sam just smiled at him encouragingly. When Gabriel snagged his shoulders and pulled him down, Sam went readily, allowing his alpha to scent along his neck. Gabriel let out a whine when he couldn't pick up the pregnancy scent yet, and leaned back, looking at the omega searchingly.

Sam gave a small nod. "I smell it," he confirmed.

The smile Gabriel gave then was the most wonderous thing Sam had ever had the joy of experiencing.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo...I hope you all enjoyed~!
> 
> Kthxbai.


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